BBC Worldwide clinches new VOD deal in South Korea

23 Feb, 2016 – On the second day of BBC Worldwide’s Showcase in Liverpool, BBC Worldwide Asia announced a Video on Demand (VOD) deal with BTV, an IPTV service in South Korea provided by one of the country’s largest telco operators, SK Broadband. The two year deal comprises over 600 hours of content ranging from drama, factual and natural history titles.

This is the first time SK Broadband has procured BBC dramas for their TVOD service, and the first time BBC’s programmes will be available on the service. It is also the first time SK Broadband has acquired BBC landmark natural history titles including Africa and Life Story.

Dramas that will be made available to BTV’s VOD subscribers include War and Peace, a modern reworking of Tolstoy’s epic masterpiece following the lives of three privileged aristocrats starring Lily James, Paul Dano and James Norton; Doctor Who (S9) which sees Peter Capaldi returning alongside with Jenna Coleman and guests including Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams, after his record-breaking debut series as the Doctor. More available drama series on BTV’s VOD services will be announced later.

Soojin Chung, GM of BBC Worldwide in Northeast Asia said, “We are committed to bringing great quality programming to viewers in Korea. SK Broadband is a valued partner and we are excited to be working with BTV to bring award winning and the best programmes from the BBC to their VOD subscribers, to watch them at their convenience.”

“We are excited to further develop our partnership with BBC Worldwide Asia to provide high quality programming to our BTV subscriber. With content from BBC Worldwide, we are confident that the VOD service on BTV will help to cement SK Broadband’s status as the leading IPTV service in South Korea,” added You Chang Wan, Head of Media Business HQ at SK Broadband.

As the largest distributor of TV programming outside of the US, BBC Worldwide Showcase sees the BBC’s commercial arm generate programme sales on behalf of the BBC and independent producers providing a major boost to British television exports.

̶ Ends ̶

About BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Its vision is to build the BBC’s brands, audiences, commercial returns and reputation across the world. This is achieved through investing in, commercialising and showcasing content from the BBC around the world, in a way that is consistent with BBC standards and values. The business also champions British creativity globally. In 2014/15, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £138.6m and headline sales of £1,001.8m and returned a record £226.5m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website: www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview

SES STRONGLY ADVOCATES AND SUPPORTS FUTURE 5G DEPLOYMENT IN EUROPE

LUXEMBOURG, 22 February 2016 — SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock
Exchange: SESG) announced today during the GSMA Mobile World Congress that it is fully
committed to the swift deployment of the 5th generation mobile networks called “5G”. As a
founding member of the 5G-PPP (Public Private Partnership), SES actively took part in the 5G
PPP whitepaper entitled “5G Empowering Vertical Industries”. The whitepaper presents 5G
networks as a key enabler for a broad range of industries, especially the automotive,
transportation, healthcare, energy, manufacturing and media and entertainment sectors.

SES actively promotes satellite as an essential building block for a global, profitable and
inclusive 5G deployment. In order to cope with the tremendous growth of data demand,
including 5G requirements, a combination of terrestrial and satellite wireless technologies is
needed. Satellites play a key role in allowing the seamless extension of 5G services, by
providing connectivity on the sea, in the air and to remote land areas.

“5G must be a seamless integration of different network technologies,” said Karim Michel
Sabbagh, President and CEO of SES. “No single technology will be able to cope with the data
challenges that networks are facing. Only a smart combination of infrastructure will be able to
meet the constantly growing demand. Satellite plays a significant role in video broadcasting,
trunking, backhauling and communications on the move, and also in complementing terrestrial
broadband. Thanks to the combination of our GEO satellites and O3b’s MEO satellites, which
provides wide coverage and low latency, SES is able to deliver high bandwidth to users. This
will be an essential advantage for the 5G networks.”

Read 5G PPP whitepaper “5G and Media & Entertainment”

Read 5G PPP press release “5G key to revolutionizing industry and society”

Read 5G PPP brochure “5G empowering vertical industries”

For further information please contact:
Markus Payer
Corporate Communications
Tel. +352 710 725 500
Markus.Payer@ses.com

BBC Worldwide signs new digital deal with Mango TV

22 Feb, 2016 – Following on the heels of a Strategic Partnership agreement signed in October 2015, BBC Worldwide has signed a new digital deal with Mango TV, a leading new media broadcaster in China.

The deal, announced just before BBC Worldwide’s Showcase which starts on Monday 22 February, will see Mango TV subscribers have access to specially curated documentary and preschool content from the BBC. Some of the programmes Mango TV subscribers will be privy to include: Tigers About the House – in which Giles Clark, from the Australia Zoo, raises two Sumatran tiger cubs in his family home; Trust Me, I’m a Doctor (Series 1 and 2) – in which Michael Mosley and a team of doctors tackle the top health questions like ‘Does coffee give you cancer?’ and ‘Can pollution give you heart disease?'; and animated preschool series, The Numtums – in which viewers go on a lively numerical adventures and learn about numbers .

Prior to this deal, Mango TV had bought the exclusive rights to a series of premium sports-related documentaries including David Beckham For The Love of The Game in which David Beckham plays a football match on all seven continents of the globe and participates in his own star-studded UNICEF fundraising match at Old Trafford. Kelvin Yau, GM of BBC Worldwide (Greater China), commented on the deal, “We are very pleased that our relationship with Mango TV has grown quickly since we signed our MOU in October 2015. Besides this deal, we are also deep in discussions with Mango TV to explore production and format opportunities particularly in iconic BBC documentaries, factual entertainment programmes, dramas and films targeting the Chinese and global market. We look forward to making more new exciting announcements in the next few months.”

“Both Mango TV and BBC Worldwide are committed to bringing the best entertainment content to Chinese audience. This partnership has been very fruitful and we look forward to developing more exciting opportunities with BBC Worldwide,” added Molly Nie, Chairwoman of Mango TV.

As the largest distributor of TV programming outside of the US, BBC Worldwide Showcase sees the BBC’s commercial arm generate programme sales on behalf of the BBC and independent producers providing a major boost to British television exports.

̶ Ends ̶

About BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Its vision is to build the BBC’s brands, audiences, commercial returns and reputation across the world. This is achieved through investing in, commercialising and showcasing content from the BBC around the world, in a way that is consistent with BBC standards and values. The business also champions British creativity globally.

ESPN’s John Skipper talks strength of the TV bundle and going OTT

18 Feb, 2016 – ESPN President John Skipper addressed concerns about the strength of the TV bundle, declaring ESPN’s business as strong as ever. “We’ve been candid about the effects that cord cutting and trading down to smaller packages have had,” Skipper said in a taped interview. “We’re focused on new packaging like Sling TV from Dish that will be enticing to millennials, to bring more subs to ESPN.”

19 February 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Feb 18th. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

Brought to you by:

Christopher Slaughter CEO	Here in Hong Kong, a four-way meeting between copyright owners, internet activists, government officials and legislators to discuss the stymied Copyright Bill accomplished nothing but another stalemate, particularly over amendments covering “fair use”. It’s been difficult for CASBAA and our allies to get a nuanced discussion going over the whole thing, but finally, the South China Morning Post has warned HK’s copy-left groups to be careful what they ask for, pointing to a submission by PwC to the Australian Productivity Commission (which is looking into economic aspects of IP reform) on the costs and benefits of introducing a fair use exception to copyright laws. The report cites the closures of a publisher and copyright collection agency in Canada, and a 50% decline in growth rates in Singapore’s creative industries which accompanied adoption of such provisions in those markets, and says such data needs to be considered when looking at moving to a “fair use” system. “There is no firm evidence supporting a direct causational relationship between fair use and improved economic outcomes…” Let’s see if this helps push things along in HK… (breath not being held).
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The hot news for this week is that Singapore’s courts issued the first copyright-related site blocking order, ordering that access to solarmovie.ph be blocked. The request for blocking, brought by the MPA, was the first test case under site-blocking provisions enacted in late 2014. Within days, Australian film distributor Village Roadshow announced that it would be bringing a test case against the same site, under Australia’s new copyright site blocking law. (It’s already blocked in the UK.) It took quite a bit of preparation to bring the first cases (nobody wants to cut corners and lose a test case!) but now that the path has been cleared, expect more petitions to the courts in Singapore and eventually Australia. Aussie torrent fan sites declared their “disappointment” at the block, but were happy that efforts seem to have foundered to implement graduated response (3-strikes) for piracy downloaders in Oz.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	Wait a minute, if “The future of TV is apps”… then what is Apple doing getting into original TV production with Dr. Dre? Oh, wait a minute… Dr. Dre is behind Beats, which Apple bought, so it’s really just about promoting Apple Music. And yes, the rumors from last summer turn out to be true, Apple apparently does have a lot of music video projects in the works — and if you are among those who feel slightly urky when you watch that Drake video “Hotline Bling”, yep, you have Apple to blame.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	More changes at the BBC, with reports in the UK press about a radical management overhaul, designed to streamline and simplify the org structure at Auntie. This comes just a week after a scathing report from the Commons Media Select Committee, which called for scrapping the BBC Trust, among other things. Of course, it’s the Beeb, so there are plenty of divergent opinions on this whole Charter business; expect the governance tug-of-war to continue right up until the current Royal Charter expires on December 31st.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Meanwhile, youth-oriented channel BBC Three has gone online only, following a plan announced back in 2014. The move was not without its opponents, who mounted a protest campaign (online, no irony there) and got more than 300,000 signatures on a petition to save the channel, to no avail. CBS talk show host and BBC Three alumnus James Corden introduced the final programme broadcast on the linear channel, an episode of his show “Gavin and Stacey”, before the feed was turned off for good.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Censorship issues reared their head(s) in three disparate jurisdictions this week. In Japan, the Communications Minister got into hot water for threatening to revoke licenses for TV stations that are insufficiently balanced in their reporting. An industry observer told Mainichi that the Minister was “creating a mood that will reduce the degree of broadcasting freedom.” The focus in the UK was more prosaic: regulator Ofcom announced it was going to – well , not censor, but require porn websites to implement firm age verification technologies. Keeping children off the porn sites is a good thing – pay-TV operators with adult programming have been implementing age/parental controls for years. But can Ofcom get the online industry to comply? We’ll see… sanctions for violators could include civil penalties, ad blocking and even site blocking.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	But the real controversy of the week arose in Indonesia, where the regulators at KPI continue to provide plenty of fodder for critiques. This week’s initiative came under the camouflage of “child protection,” and involves a ban on “promotion” of LGBT activities (which means depiction of LGBT people). It’s really part of an ongoing demonization of gay Indonesians by religious activists. There was an immediate wave of criticism from Human Rights organizations, who pointed out that UNICEF and the UN Committee on Rights of the Child call for “raising the awareness of the public on equality and non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.” Indeed, when KPI promulgated their 2012 broadcast standards, they prohibited programs that stigmatize “people of certain sexual orientation and gender identity.” Guess they changed their mind.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	How to pivot your business from a “traditional” media company into a new digital player? Well, nothing could be more “traditional” that an old U.S. terrestrial broadcaster catering to an older demo. There is a lot to learn from the story of CBS’s move into digital video. Get this, CBS All Access (their OTT service), “… not only puts $6 per month per subscriber in CBS Corp.’s pocket, but also brings in some advertising dollars as well — about $4 a month per customer.” Two great stories for you, “Here’s Why CBS Is The Future Of Television No One Saw Coming (Except Les Moonves)” and “Exclusive: With full power at CBS, CEO Moonves sees more aggressive move to digital”.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Notwithstanding the social churn taking place in India, the PM Modi-led government has been trying to ease some norms for doing business in India. Even if they may be small steps. Rajyavardhan Rathore, junior minister for MIB, said the government has done away with the requirement of taking security clearances from the Ministry of Home Affairs for existing broadcasters during launch of new TV channels from their stable. Well done and we hope the good intentions don’t get tripped by bureaucracy.
Yegee Chun Regulatory Assistant	Indonesia’s leading telco, state-owned Telkom, has decided to block Netflix for noncompliance with local regulations and concerns around “porn” and “radicalism”. Officials claim the ban will be lifted once Netflix obtains the appropriate permits and meets censorship requirements. This surely does not come as a great surprise, after prior clashes between regulators and foreign TV channels over similar issues. But so far it’s only Telkom doing the blocking; competing telcos are racing to promote Netflix access on their networks. Meanwhile in Australia, there’s no question of blocking, but the Federal Treasurer wants to make Netflix pay its taxes. Now, about the pirate sites?
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In India, the TRAI came out in the name of net neutrality and banned zero-rating services, like Facebook’s “Free Basics.” Net activists were jubilant, saying India was leading and the US and EU would inevitably follow. (We’ll see if that happens – in the USA the FCC is agonizing over what to do about several zero-rating services, including most prominently a T-Mobile service called “Binge On.”) Anyway, the TRAI decision got a lot of international media attention, featuring lots of comment about how it was a big setback for Facebook. And indeed Facebook had spent big to try to mobilize Indian opinion to support them. The Sydney Morning Herald called the company’s miscalculations “Silicon Valley ignorance.” When Facebook then announced their India country chief was stepping down and relocating back to Silicon Valley, it occasioned a lot of invidious comment, and the company had to issue a release saying no no no, the two things were not related, and she wasn’t involved in the Free Basics campaign. (Huh? Are they so busy diddling their devices they didn’t think about what kind of comment the timing of that personnel announcement would generate???) Meanwhile, it seems like India will resemble the US in one way at least: litigation is going to follow.
Yegee Chun Regulatory Assistant	Musicians and the music industry have been making increasing noise about how the internet “culture of free” is destroying artists and creators. See for example, this column from Forbes magazine. But for a viewpoint that has real impact, see this video, drawn from a forthcoming documentary on what happens to artists (and authors, journalists, academics and video producers) in the Internet Age, where only aggregators make money. “They came for the musicians first, and then the filmmakers, and the writers, and the journalists…” Watch it; it’s good!
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	It was the BAFTA film awards on Sunday. As predicted by many Leo won for The Revenant which may set the stage for the OSCARS. The BAFTA’s wasn’t without its own controversy with the inclusion of Kisscam (Leonardo Di Caprio and Dame Maggie Smith, wait…what?) and one or two remarks that perhaps predicably set the easily offended social media ablaze including Stephen Fry comparing the winner of best costume design to a bag lady and Rebel Wilson discussing the diversity of BAFTA membership and saying she liked chocolate on Valentine’s Day (I shan’t elaborate, but you can watch it here).
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	To continue on with my theme this week of listening to what old guys have to say, Michael Eisner Predicts the Future. You can hear what he has to say about “gut calls”, “Bojack Horseman” and ‘what’s going to happen to the thousand channels that I can currently cycle through on my TV?” Then there is this 3-minute CNN clip of Barry Diller, Chairman of IAC, talking straight. “Cable companies are now much more interested in data and broadband.” Apparently, “‘Data systems’ is the new word for ‘cable’”.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

HKBN inks deal to deliver TVB’s myTV SUPER

18 Feb, 2016 – TVB is to bundle its soon-to-be launched over-the-top (OTT) video service myTV SUPER with Hong Kong Broadband Network’s fibre optic Internet service.

myTV SUPER will be delivered over HKBN’s fibre optic network both at home and on-the-go via a mobile app, with multi-genre entertainment provided by TVB and its global partners.

“This partnership with TVB is yet another example of HKBN’s relentless effort to champion OTT services. Our goal is to give our customers a fuller, richer experience of extensive local and global entertainment programmes at exceptionally reasonable fees. By providing blazing fast speeds with the robust reliability of our fibre network, HKBN creates a best-in-class fibre home entertainment platform where 4K Ultra HD experiences will redefine entertainment as we know it,” said William Yeung, CEO and co-owner, HKBN.

Discovery Boss Isn’t Afraid of Skinny Bundles, But Prefers OTT

18 Feb, 2016 – David Zaslav doesn’t really think either alternative to traditional cable TV delivery is going to “meaningfully” happen in the U.S. any time soon

It’s going to be years before “skinny” cable bundles become a realistic option in the United States, Discovery boss David Zaslav said — but he’s not afraid of the idea anyway. Zaslav told media analysts Thursday that he likes how his “very efficient” channel lineup stacks up against the rest of the industry.

“If it ever did happen here in the U.S., we would be well-positioned,” Zaslav promised on a company conference call Thursday, adding, “I don’t believe it’s going to.”

TrueVisions vows to continue fight against NBTC

18 Feb, 2016 – TrueVisions, the country’s largest pay TV operator, has acknowledged violating rules related to channel numbering and advertising limits but says it will use the legal process to solve its problems.

The company insists it will not comply with the two rules even as the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) threatens it with fines…

BeIn Bags Indonesia EPL Rights

15 Feb, 2016 – BeIn Sports has won the 2016-19 Indonesian EPL rights for US$75 million, about US$15 million less than the last cycle when sports agency MP & Silva prevailed.

The victory comes on the back of BeIn’s EPL wins in Thailand, New Zealand and Indonesia. The broadcaster also scooped La Liga rights for Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand last year.

BeIn has already licensed La Liga games to various parties in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, and is slowly building out pay-TV and digital distribution for its channels and content in Australasia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Star India closes US$346MN acquisition of Maa TV

15 Feb, 2016 – 21st Century Fox-owned TV network Star India has closed its purchase of Telugu language broadcaster Maa TV for US$346 million in cash.

The deal’s closure follows the approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in June 2015 of Star’s acquisition of Maa TV, Maa Music, Maa Gold and Maa Movies from industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, Rajya Sabha member Chiranjeevi and actor Nagarjuna.

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Christopher Slaughter

CEO

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Yegee Chun

Regulatory Assistant

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Yegee Chun

Regulatory Assistant

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore